**Solved** -- Spread Sheets Cut-lists - Alibre Expert v23 (+Board Footage BOM)

[Konradjustimagine]

I am wondering if anyone has experience generating a cut-list from an assembly and/or exporting multiple part data from an assembly into a spreadsheet.

A simple hypothetical example would be a bookshelf. Lets say I've created an assembly for a simple bookshelf:
- two panels for top and bottom
- two panels for sides
- three panels for shelves
- one panel for the back

---------
|-------|
|-------|
|-------|
---------

Does Alibre expert have some of function where I can export information similar to what is found in the 'measure tool' dialog box into a spreadsheet or document for all parts within my assembly? Something that I could maybe filter out information like the below example:

Part count in Assembly

Part Name

xy measure

yz measure

xz measure

2x	Bookshelf_TopBottom	12"	24"	3/4"
2x	Bookshelf_Side	12"	36"	3/4"
3x	Bookshelf_Shelf	12"	22 1/2"	3/4"
1x	Bookshelf_Back	24"	36"	1/4"

I have been researching online and on this forum for an answer prior to asking about this. Also I know I can manually track the dimensions for the parts as I create them however I am trying my best to use global parameters for uncertainties: in this example the the panel thickness would be [Plywood=0.75"] but when I purchase the plywood from the store maybe its actually a metric product and closer to 0.735" which would throw off all my panel sizes in a manually cataloged Spreadsheet.

Thanks in advance for any guidance.

 

[JST]

I do these all the time.

What I do is to enter the equation editor, and change the name of the dimension from D1, D3 or whatever, to say, "length". Then, since there were unused (by me) columns, I made one of the columns "length" instead of what it is, by redefining it to find "length" and enter the corresponding dimension from the part in that column for each part. That directly pulls the dimension into the BOM in Alibre.

You would probably want 3 such columns. All my parts for this are standard steel angle or defined beams, so I don't need the other dimensions, and only use length.

The name is important, so you will need 3 different names for the three dimensions

There is a procedure for redefining the column, which I must refer you to the help to explain, as I have not done it for a while. I set up the BOM form quite a while back, and have been using that template ever since.

 

[NateLiquidGravity]

Here is the help file @JST was describing. https://help.alibre.com/articles/alibre-help-v23/adding-parameters

 

[Konradjustimagine]

I do these all the time.

What I do is to enter the equation editor, and change the name of the dimension from D1, D3 or whatever, to say, "length". Then, since there were unused (by me) columns, I made one of the columns "length" instead of what it is, by redefining it to find "length" and enter the corresponding dimension from the part in that column for each part. That directly pulls the dimension into the BOM in Alibre.

You would probably want 3 such columns. All my parts for this are standard steel angle or defined beams, so I don't need the other dimensions, and only use length.

The name is important, so you will need 3 different names for the three dimensions

There is a procedure for redefining the column, which I must refer you to the help to explain, as I have not done it for a while. I set up the BOM form quite a while back, and have been using that template ever since.

Thank you, I think this is exactly what I was looking for. I'm still pretty new to Alibre and I'm pretty grateful for the help.

 

[Konradjustimagine]

Here is the help file @JST was describing. https://help.alibre.com/articles/alibre-help-v23/adding-parameters

Thanks for linking this manual, I didn't know this website was available. Every time I would encounter a problem I would do a web search that almost always led me to this forum. I look forward to spending some time with this learning resource!

 

[NateLiquidGravity]

Thanks for linking this manual, I didn't know this website was available. Every time I would encounter a problem I would do a web search that almost always led me to this forum. I look forward to spending some time with this learning resource!

Online help was released for v23. It is accessible from the program and clicking the question mark in most dialogs usually goes directly to help for that dialog. The problem is often not knowing what to search for.

 

[JST]

.......................... The problem is often not knowing what to search for.

Or the proper "Alibre name" for it

 

[HaroldL]

Taking this one step further, and I know there has been a lot of discussion in the past about parameter dimensionality, but how would you set up a parameter to add the part's board footage to the BOM table? I can't find any examples or discussion about that particular subject in any forum search. Just creating an equation doesn't seem to work.

A good example in the Help would be helpful, something to expand on the one paragraph about dimensionality.

 

[DavidJ]

Harold - by 'board footage' do you mean the notional volume in cu. ft. , or something else? For total instances in assembly, or just for single instance?

 

[HaroldL]

I want to calculate how many board feet or fractional part of a board foot there is in each part of the assembly.
The equation is: (Length X Width X Thickness)/144. The result will be displayed in a Board Ft column on the BOM. However, I cannot get the equation set up properly in the EE. I'm sure it has something to do with dimensionality of the parameters, just don't see how to correct it. And, once in the BOM is there a way to total the column?

 

[DavidJ]

Harold, example herewith for you (just a single part). Note that I used 'Inch' to produce a dimensionless 'copy' of each of the measurements. These can be used easily in other formulae without dimensionality or syntax issues. It is less than obvious. I had previous explained the basics in this article

Working with Equations in Alibre Design

Alibre Design has an inbuilt capability to use equations in your designs. Similar capability is made available in Part Workspace (accessed via Equation Editor) Assembly Workspace (accessed via Equation Editor) Global Parameter Files There...

alibre.freshdesk.com

I had to treat BoardFoot as a Scale value because Alibre doesn't have a Type for Volume.

There isn't any simple inbuilt way to total a column in BoM (that's a current enhancement request) - if a design always has same number of parts, it could be set up in EE, but is a bit tiresome and that doesn't generate a spare row in the BoM to display the total...

 

[HaroldL]

@DavidJ ,Thanks for the sample part and the link. (BTW, the link doesn't work since the period is included in the hyperlink. But I got it to work by pasting it into a new tab.)

I knew there were extra steps to be taken, I just forgot what they were. In your article you provide a list of Functions that can be used within equations. Is there no Rounding function? I'd like the result to be rounded to one or two decimal places if possible and it doesn't look like the result follows the decimal setting of the part or drawing file properties.

 

[DavidJ]

Harold,

No idea where that extra full stop came from - have removed it.

No, I don't see any rounding function either. You could multiply the value by 10 or 100, apply INT, then divide by 10 or 100.



That won't preserve trailing zeroes.

 

[simonb65]

You could multiply the value by 10 or 100, apply INT, then divide by 10 or 100.

That will always round down, i.e 1.256 will become 1.25 if you just multiply and do INT, then divide.

If you want to round to the nearest (round up/down), add 0.5 after the multiply before the INT. I.e 1.256 will become 1.26

Int((BoardFoot * 100) + 0.5) / 100

 

[DavidJ]

Simon is correct of course - it still leaves trailing zeroes to deal with, but hopefully that isn't a big issue.

 

[HaroldL]

@DavidJ and @simonb65, Thanks for your help on this. The finer points of equations always seem to give me some trouble. I think I am going to set up a part file and save it as a "Start Part" so I don't have to go through editing a whole bunch of files. There's only four in this assembly but I want to be prepared for larger projects.

The rounding step works ok and so far I've only seen leading zeros, to the left of the decimal, but I'm not to concerned about that as long as I have a way to show the BF usage for the model. One other thing it doesn't do is total the BF for multiple qty's of the same part. But I resolved that by heading the column with BF(Ea) to flag me that there is a multiplier I need to apply.